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How to Boost the Odds
When Cashing In Miles

By

Nancy Keates Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated July 25, 1997 12:01 a.m. ET

Pam Dubois is just one of the many frequent fliers having a summer of discontent. Recently, she tried to cash in some of her 85,000 frequent-flier miles for a weekend jaunt to New Orleans, but couldn't get a free seat on USAirways.

"It was a reasonable request," says the management consultant from Washington. "These programs never have the seats when you want them."